The End is the Beginning with Emily Johnson

Today Emily Johnson and I converse about her incredible story of finishing a novel, Bird of Paradise, that her mother wrote for many years before her death. Emily's mother worked on the book throughout her long battle with cancer, and intentionally left it unfinished for Emily to complete. We talk about her discovering the completed pages, the process of writing the book, discoveries along the way, and how the co-creation of the manuscript was healing for Emily, as she processed her grief from losing her mother. This is a beautiful story of a shared creative journey between a mother and daughter; a journey that continued past death and that includes the next generation of their family too.

Emily Johnson's Bio:
I was born in Aspen, Colorado before moving to North Carolina at the age of 13. I played competitive golf in middle and high school. I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and had an area of study in Archeology. I began my career in the marketing department at the PGA TOUR, before moving on to agency work and later worked as a grant writer for a professional ballet company. Today I live in Raleigh with my husband and son, and work in marketing and advertising. I love to read, spend time with my family, play golf, run, kickbox and hike.

Connect with Emily:
Personal Website: emilyjohnsonwrites.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyhughes/
Purchase  the book -   Bird of Paradise
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ejohnson2014/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/elhughes01

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director, creative coach and founder of Story and Horse. She is all about supporting creative expression and sharing stories with the world. If you are a creative professional who could use a personal coach in your corner, drop her a note.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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Living the Metaphor with Michael Alcée

Dr. Michael Alcée joins us today for an inspirational and thought-provoking conversation. He shares insights about creativity from his practice as a therapist specializing in working with artists in their careers and everyday lives. We explore themes and ideas from his upcoming book, Therapeutic Improvisation: How to Stop Winging It and Own It as a Therapist, and look at how the practice of personal creative growth supports therapists' professional development. Michael and I talk about the power of juxtapositions, curiosity, mystery and metaphor.  Enjoy this journey into the delightful space of creative emergence!

Guest Bio:
Michael Alcée, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Tarrytown, NY and Mental Health Educator at Manhattan School of Music. He specializes in the psychology of artists and everyday creativity and the professional development of therapists. His contributions have appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, NPR, The New York Post, Salon.com, and on the TEDx stage. His forthcoming book from Norton entitled Therapeutic Improvisation: How to Stop Winging It and Own It as a Therapist will be out in May 2022.

Connect with Michael:
Website: https://michaelalcee.com/
Order the book -  Therapeutic Improvisation: How to Stop Winging It and Own It as a Therapist (publishing May 2022)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-alcee-14417755

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director, creative coach and founder of Story and Horse. She is all about supporting creative expression and sharing stories with the world. If you are a creative professional who could use a personal coach in your corner, drop her a note.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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The Philosophy of Creativity with Patrick Williams

Today, award-winning painter, sculpture, writer and Budōka Patrick Williams joins us to talk about his Philosophy of Creativity, the importance of arts in education, and how creativity is our first language. He shares his personal artistic origin story, which was based in a great loss and an equally large gift, and discusses his soon-to-be completed book, with a working title of Why We Need the Arts. 

Guest Bio:
Patrick Williams is a passionate and inspiring public speaker, consultant, writer, artist, independent scholar, and visionary educator. He has over 4 decades of experience teaching and facilitating deep learning to a wide range of audiences, including as a TEDx  speaker. 

Patrick is and an award winning artist who has exhibited throughout the USA, Japan, and China.  His art is in public and private collections, and he has been represented by galleries in Chicago, Seattle, Omaha, and Albuquerque. 

Patrick holds black belts in Karate-Dō and Aikidō with decades of experience training and teaching Budō.  His comprehension, experience, expertise, and synthesis of creativity and innovation is unparalleled.  Patrick is the founder and president of Satori Innovation: A Consulting and Ideation Accelerator.

Connect with Patrick:
Websites:
www.patrickwilliamsstaycreative.com
www.patrickwilliams.com
www.celebrationflowerpaintings.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-michael-williams/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/pmwcreativity/
https://www.instagram.com/pmw_camera/
Watch Patrick's TEDx Talk

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director, creative coach and founder of Story and Horse. She is all about supporting creative expression and sharing stories with the world. If you are a creative professional who could use a personal coach in your corner, drop her a note.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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Living a Life Without Permission with Brian Wallace

Join stage actor and film producer Brian Wallace as we talk about green-lighting yourself as an empowering, creative action that is part of living a life without permission. We discuss comedy, laughter as a disruptive act and the challenge of manufacturing inspiration. Brian shares a fun story about (mostly) surviving a musical theatre dance callback, and he offers a powerful suggestion for getting into the creative flow that was inspired by his "playing guitar badly." Also, Brian generously offers to read scripts, so, if you are a writer who is looking for potential collaborators, drop him a note!

Scroll down for information and ways to connect with Brian and Story and Horse 👇

Poem lines paraphrased:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim
-- From "If" by Rudyard Kipling

Whoop-Up musical referenced:
Listen here or Learn more 

Guest Bio:
Brian Wallace began his career as a stage actor in NYC and moved to Los Angeles in 2015. Once shortlisted for a Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship; produced the "play without a play" Kinsherf's Coat (Hollywood Fringe Producer's Award); wrote the pilots for "M.A.R.S." (Finalist- Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship & Oaxaca Film Fest) and "#TiredOfWinning" (Finalist- Seoul International Film Festival). 

"Stay Green" was the first in the "mundane documentary" series that Wallace wrote and directed for Fancy Movies, and the film was selected at ten festivals worldwide, winning best in its category at Los Angeles CineFest and the Ealing Film Festival in London, UK. The prize money from Ealing financed the next mundane documentary installment, "Play On."

Wallace played a small but pivotal role in the pioneering transgender film "Relish," which won Best Feature at the Madrid and Burbank International Film Festivals in 2019, and he can currently be seen as the steady but depraved Dr. Richter in Denim Richards' latest film, "The Zoo." His play ‘The Martians’ has been accepted into the Valdez Theatre Conference this June.

Connect with Brian:
Website: http://www.actorbrianwallace.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/splashofwallace
Contact Brian to send him a script
Fancy Movies: https://www.fancymovies818.com/
Twitter Fancy Movies: https://twitter.com/fancymovies
Instagram Fancy Movies: https://www.instagram.com/fancymovies/

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director, creative coach and founder of Story and Horse. She is all about supporting creative expression and sharing stories with the world. If you are a creative professional who could use a personal coach in your corner, drop her a note.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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Creative Journeys with Austin Ku

On this episode, I welcome Austin Ku. Austin is a New York City-based actor, performer, former lawyer and 2021 Grammy Award nominee. He shares his powerful and circuitous journey to becoming an actor, and tells us about playing the lead in an exciting new musical in development, Shanghai Sonatas. Austin offers ideas about how to nurture inspiration, reveals what he'd create with a magic wand, and explains his technique to lovingly guide family members into a more supportive scripts with their artistic children - of any age!
Join us as we celebrate Story and Horse's 20th podcast with Austin Ku!

Please note this episode contains brief mentions of drug use and sexual behavior that may not be appropriate for all listeners (at approximately 8:50 - 10:30)

About Austin from Austin-Ku.com:
I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where I played a lot of violin as a kid and then got more into choir and theater as a teen. I went to Rice University, where I did a LOT of campus theater, and waffled by transferring in and out of The Shepherd School of Music as a Vocal/Opera Performance major, graduating with a degree in Asian Studies (Chinese History, Culture and Language, magna cum laude).
Seeking a "practical" career in the arts, I went to the UC Berkeley School of Law and became an entertainment lawyer in S.F.--briefly. I was still having WAY more fun doing theater on the side, started doing on-camera and print work too, and even joined AEA & SAG-AFTRA.
So I decided to finally fully go for it, and went to The Boston Conservatory (at Berklee) where I obtained a Master's Degree in Musical Theater.
Now I live in NYC, and am having the time of my life doing musicals and plays, film and TV, commercials, voiceovers, modeling and hand modeling!
I still play the violin every now and then.
... 
I also love cooking and all things food-related. 

Connect with Austin:
Austin-Ku.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secretaustinman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretaustinman/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/secretaustinman
Shanghai Sonatas: https://shanghaisonatas.com/

Click here for Soft Power Original Cast Recording download & listen options
Find out more about Soft Power on The Public Theatre site

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director and coach. She is all about supporting people's creative expression and sharing stories with the world.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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A Ritual Renaissance with Day Schildkret

On this episode, we are joined by Day Schildkret, award-winning author, artist, ritualist, and teacher. Our conversation  explores the critical and urgent importance of reintroducing rituals into our everyday lives. We talk about Day's books, his recently published Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration and Change, and his previous Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit through Nature, Art and Ritual, and examine the powerful healing that occurs for both those engaging in the action of ritual and those who witness and hold space for the practice.  

Guest Bio:
Day Schildkret is an award-winning author, artist, ritualist, teacher and is internationally known for Morning Altars, which Buzz Feed calls, “a celebration of nature and life.” Working for over a decade with individuals, communities and organizations, Day is helping to heal the culture through a meaningful and creative response to change. Day is the author of Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration and Change (Simon Element/Simon & Schuster) publishing in 2022 as well as, Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit through Nature, Art and Ritual (The Countryman Press/W.W. Norton). More about Day at morningaltars.com and dayschildkret.com.

Connect with Day:
morningaltars.com
dayschildkret.com
Teacher Training: https://www.morningaltars.com/teachertraining
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/morningalters/

Day's two books Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration and Change and Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit through Nature, Art and Ritual  can be purchased here, or at bookstores including Amazon and Barnes and Nobel.

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director and coach. She is all about supporting people's creative expression and sharing stories with the world.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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Embracing Change with Melissa Carnahan

Today we welcome Melissa Carnahan, a stage manager, gardener and actor. Melissa and I talk about how she got started in theatre, and explore the creativity of stage managing and gardening. We discuss the importance of feeding creativity, making art and how we are all here to learn and help each other grow. Melissa also shares how her acting in improvisational theatre has positively impacted her ability to roll with change. 

Guest Bio:
Melissa Marie Carnahan is an Omaha area professional stage manager and Actor.  Melissa has been an active theatre technician since 2008.  Some of her most precious theatre experiences include the role of Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream, the Stage Manager for the Blue Barn Theatre's Witching Hour (a late-night, devised theatre production), and the first Omaha Stage manager for Walk the Night, Omaha's only immersive theatre experience!  Melissa has a fondness for watching the magic that is theatre from the development and planning stages to watching the performers discover and create art that brings words to life. 

Connect with Melissa on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissamariecarnahan

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director and coach. She is all about supporting people's creative expression and sharing stories with the world.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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Celebrating Our Stories with Nicole Greevy

On today's episode, Nicole Greevy joins us to talk about creating the podcast Uncanny County, which, to quote UncannyCounty.com, is a "quirky, darkly comic, Southwestern-flavored anthology" that " brings you a new paranormal audio play every month." Nicole produces and writes for the show, and also is the voice of reoccurring character Sheriff Jane Rowland.  In addition to talking about the podcast, we enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at her writing process, learn what Nicole's favorite sound effect is that she has used on the show (so far!), talk about horses as teachers, and journey with her through a story of personal creative discovery. 

Guest Bio:
Nicole Greevy is a producer and writer of the award-winning fiction podcast Uncanny County, (on which she is also the voice of Sheriff Jane Rowland), currently in pre-production for its third season.  She is also an award-winning playwright.  Nicole lives in New York City, which is where she learned to ride horses, and has ridden in all of the boroughs except for Staten Island.  Her husband Todd Faulkner is also a writer and actor, and her son, Griffin Robert Faulkner, can be seen in the Netflix series Raising Dion.

Connect, Watch & Listen:
Uncanny County: https://uncannycounty.com/ (and available anywhere you enjoy podcasts)
Uncanny County on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UncannyCounty
Uncanny County on Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncannycounty
Nicole's Website: nicolegreevy.com
Watch Nicole's son Griffin in Netflix's Raising Dion and, for the younger kids, listen to him as the voice of Otis the Tractor on Apple TV+'s Get Rolling With Otis

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director and coach. She is all about supporting people's creative expression and sharing stories with the world.

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

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Optimism & Trust: Creating Musical Theatre with Paul Libman & Dave Hudson

Paul Libman and Dave Hudson have worked together for twenty years, creating more than ten musicals together,  including two that won the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award for New Musicals. Paul is the composer, and Dave is the book writer and lyricist of the team. We talk about their partnership and collaborative process, and they share personal stories about creative inspirations and moments of transformation. Dave and Paul also offer actionable suggestions for creativity in general and aspects of musical theatre building in particular. Enjoy this uplifting conversation with an award-winning musical theatre duo!

Guest Bios:
PAUL LIBMAN Musical theatre is Paul Libman’s destination on a journey that began with playing jazz piano, composing for television and radio commercials and producing records. After winning the Richard Rodgers Award twice for two different musicals with collaborator Dave Hudson, Paul relocated to New York, where he currently is a member of the Lehman Engel BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop. He is also the creator, arranger and producer of the hit comedy CD, Oy To The World! A Klezmer Christmas.

Now, having had seven successfully produced musicals, he continues to write with Dave Hudson and others. Earlier this year, Paul and Dave celebrated a “double premiere” — the premiere of No Bones About It as part of the premiere season of Northern Sky Theater in Door County Wisconsin.

DAVE HUDSON Dave Hudson (Dramatists Guild, ASCAP) has been writing plays since he was in high school and for the past decade he has focused exclusively on musicals. 2015 saw the premier of his 23rd and 24th musicals. His work ranges from the poetic Dust and Dreams, an adaptation of Carl Sandburg’s Pulitzer Prize winning Cornhuskers to No Bones About It a comedic musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set among the world of competitive barbecue. He also writes for youth theater and just completed his seventh youth musical, Tut, Tut! which is published by Beat by Beat Press.

With Paul Libman, he is a two time winner of the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award for New Musicals and his work has been produced throughout the Midwest.

Connect with Dave & Paul
Website: http://libmanhudson.com/
There is a contact form on the site to drop them a note.

Also Mentioned
Northern Sky Theatre: https://northernskytheater.com/

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director and coach. She is all about supporting people's creative expression and sharing stories with the world.  

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 The Whole You: Exploring Action, Voice & Inspiration with Robin Rice

Playwright Robin Rice joins me today to talk about current projects, shares early influences on her writing, and the importance of action, structure, and "doing" in the creative process. 

Connect with Story and Horse
www.storyandhorse.com
Facebook: @storyandhorse
Instagram: @storyandhorse

Host Hilary Adams is an award-winning theatre director and coach. She is all about supporting people's creative expression and sharing stories with the world.  You can reach her at [email protected].

Guest Bio: ROBIN RICE is the author of almost 100 plays (22 full-length) with productions from New York to Mongolia, South Africa to London, South Korea to Australia. Recent productions include: ALICE IN BLACK AND WHITE and PLAY NICE! on Off-Broadway. Publishers include Samuel French, Original Works, Smith & Kraus, Blue Moon and Next Stage Press. Residencies, honors, producers include Finborough (London), Phoenix, Theatricum Botanicum, O'Neill (finalist), StageWrite, Shiner, Karamu, Perishable, Kernodle, Goshen, Drury, Smith, Reverie, Chambers, Mazumdar. Member: Dramatists Guild, League of Professional Theatre Women, International Centre for Women Playwrights, The Playwrights Circle, Women in the Arts and Media Coalition, Manhattan Oracles, 29th Street Collective, Honor Roll!. www.RobinRicePlaywright.com  

Robin's designs are available on fabric and wallpaper from Spoonflower.com.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber
The Earth for Sam by W. Maxwell Reed
The Playwrights Guidebook by Stuart Spencer

Connect with Robin
Website: https://robinriceplaywright.com/
Email: [email protected]
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RobinRiceLichtig/ and  https://www.facebook.com/RobinRicePlaywright
New Play Exchange (NPX): https://newplayexchange.org/users/707/robin-rice
Spoonflower: https://www.spoonflower.com/en/shop?on=&availability=ForSale&sort=bestSelling&q=Robin+Rice&commit=Search

Some of Robin's Published Plays
When Silence is Not Golden: three activist one-acts - Next Stage Press
Alice in Black and White:  Original Works Publishing
Honey's Smile:  YouthPLAYS
Humans Remain:  Blue Moon Plays
Play Nice!: Original Works Publishing
Adapt or Die: In "Weirdest Plays of 2020." At Amazon

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